We got the car

If you know Matt you know the Ford Shelby GT Mustang has been his dream car for a long, long time. It all started when Matt was growing up and his Dad, Brian and him worked on a couple of cars in their garage and drooled over them the whole time. Matt's Dad, Mike, has had quite a few Mustangs in his day, most of them before Matt was even born. Matt remembers wishing Ford would start to make Mustangs like they used to again, instead of the '80s and '90s versions that looked more like Escorts than Mustangs.

Well, a few years ago Ford started to do just that with their new GTs and in 2007 they brought out a new Shelby GT with lots of nods to its 40-year-old ancestors, the Shelby Mustangs from the '60s. Matt was in heaven to say the least. He would spend hours looking up stats and pictures of the new Shelby GT, and teaching me all about the history of Ford racing and how it partnered with Carroll Shelby and all that Shelby is doing now. Once the car came to showrooms, we would drive over to Ford late at night (when they were closed of course because we couldn't afford to buy the car) to peek through the windows.

The amount of time Matt spent looking at Shelby cars on Ebay and elsewhere would fluctuate depending on what else he had to do. This summer he started looking again. Looking became more serious when he got a raise in June, and then more serious yet when he found an '07 Shelby GT in Round Rock, Texas 10 minutes from Uncle Gary's house. According to the car's report, it had only one previous owner and no history of accidents, only a steady report of timely preventative maintenance and care. Matt's melting. Matt crunched some numbers and recalculated the budget. He checked the insurance rates. Yep, that raise would cover it all if we could get it at our predetermined price point. So 3 1/2 weeks ago we drove to Round Rock, did a little negotiating, and BOUGHT IT!!!

I can't believe we bought this car! It's awesome though and sounds amazing! Sitting in it and flooring it as you come up an on-ramp on the highway feels like you're in the Bat Mobile, which is pretty cool to say the least.



Here's the proof, alright. Matt really has his Shelby Mustang. It's number 3934. He's probably going to want to name our first child Shelby after the car...

I don't know what much of this stuff is, but it looks pretty intimidating, don't you think?



This picture is taken behind our apartment building, just outside the old garage we park the new car in. The green door goes to the garage.



I love that grill. I think it's almost the best part of the car, second only to your head slamming back on the headrest when you shift to second on the highway and are at 60 mph before you even know it.

Matt's Mustang alongside his Dad's '67 Mustang convertible.



These two pictures are in front of Mike and Cindy's house. There's a saying in the Keilen family: "The only difference between men and boys is the price of their toys." How true, how true!

It was great driving this car around Michigan. We have many more pictures of our trip to post soon!